The Williamson diamond mine, also known as the Mwadui mine, is a diamond mine in Tanzania. It was well-known as the first diamond mine outside of Africa. This mine was established by Dr. John Williamson of Canada in 1940. It has produced 19 million carats of diamonds since its inception. The mine is currently 75% owned by Petra Diamonds and 25% by the Tanzanian government.

The mine is currently 300 feet deep, employs 1100 people and is considered the “largest economically exploitable diamond-bearing volcanic pipe in the world”.

Currently, the mine produces six carats of diamonds per hundred tons of ore. At the beginning, the mine produced sixty-two carats per hundred tons. A 54 carat flawless pink diamond was found at the Williamson Diamond mine.

In 1938, Dr. Williamson used the Mabuki diamond mine as his base for prospecting diamonds in the area. By the 1950’s, the Williamson diamond mine expanded into the largest diamond mine in Tanzania with a large labor force and state-of-the-art mining equipment. He managed the mine until his death in 1958 at the age of 50.

On August 13, 1958, Williamson’s heirs sold the mine for 4 million GBP in an equal partnership between DeBeers and the government of Tanganyika.

In 1971, “the government nationalized the mine”. It was not as productive in the 1980’s under the government leadership.

In 1994, DeBeers bought 75% of the Williamson mine. Today, the mine is considered a “marginal performer” but DeBeers has found some avenues for development which will make the mine viable well into the future.

The valley of Mogak just northeast of Mandalay in Burma, known as Myanmar today, lies the area where the world’s most beautiful gems have been found for a thousand years.

To travel to Myanmar today, a traveler must pay a significant amount of money to get there and expect a long difficult journey.

After a treacherous trip, the Valley of Myanmar can be reached with a population of 500,000 people. The population is there because of the beautiful rubies and sapphires that are mined in the area. One passes through streets which cater to the mining industry. Hundreds of shops that carry equipment and tools for mining and cutting equipment can be found there.

Mines of all sizes are owned by individuals or corporations in joint ventures with the government. They are found throughout the town and in the surrounding hills. Some of the most productive mines are known as Yadana Kaday-Kar, Shwe Pi Aye, Lin Yaung Gyi and Pyanung Gaung mines. Well-known geologists and expensive equipment can be found at these mines in particular.

All the mines work very much in the same way: gem gravel is taken from pits and emptied into sluices, “a channel to drain or carry off surplus water” allowing the heavy stones, hopefully gemstones, to show through. Profits are shared between everyone to keep them honest. Men, women and children take part in this activity. Children consider this work as “getting together with friends for a game of football after school”.

Emerald mines can be found all over the world including the United States of America, Madagascar, Africa, India and Australia. The most beautiful emeralds are known to have come from Brazil and Columbia. I will be writing about the Columbian emerald mines. Their emeralds are known for their “transparency, crystallization and fire”. They range in color from “slightly light, yellowish green to a deep, bluish green”. Emeralds have a hardness of 7.5 to 8 out of 10 on the Mohs scale of hardness.

In 1537, a Spaniard, Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada, was the first to receive a gift of 9 emeralds from the Indians when he entered the valley of Guacheta in the Chibcha domain. He and his captains found the source of the emeralds in Somondocel or Chivor.

In 1555, Luiz Lanchera founded the village of Muzo near the Itoco mountains where large amounts of emeralds were found by Indians.

In 1558, the Spaniards began mining in the area, although they were often attacked by local Indians. The mine was ultimately abandoned and was overgrown by the jungle.

In 1594, the Spaniards found the Indians working an emerald site nearby, known as the Muzo mines today. They actively worked the mine for 15 years with tremendous results.

Between 1824 and 1848, the officials of Bogota stated that all mining had to be done under the direction of the nation.

In 1909, the Government ended their relationship with the English Company, The Colombian Emerald Mining Company, Ltd. which was “controlled by South African diamond interests” and the Government continued on their own to control the mines. Operations have been suspended since January 1, 1913.

Kashmir sapphires are considered the most beautiful and expensive sapphires in the sapphire family. They are known for their highly saturated violet-blue color with velvety transparency “which is caused by the presence of silk”.

The sapphires come from a remote region in the Zanskar range of the Himalayas in India. These mines are known not only for blue sapphires but occasionally for pink sapphires as well. The Maharaja of Kashmir posted guards in the vacinity of the mine when he heard of the Kashmir blue sapphire’s beauty and value.

From 1882 through 1887, the mine was worked thoroughly during the summer months and the mine was depleted. Stones as large as eggplants were discovered.

By 1887, T. D. LaTouch, a geologist, discovered the stones came from two different locations. The “Old Mine” which included pits in the valley wall and another on the valley floor below the “Old Mine”.

A portion of the starting journey to the mines was treacherous traveling across the Wardwan and Chinab Rivers over a rope bridge 11,550 feet high in the mountains. The Chinab River runs through a very deep and narrow canyon. The traveling was difficult going, marching high and low through many side streams running through deep gorges. Although this portion of the journey took 5 days to travel it was only 24 miles from the start as a direct line. This was only the beginning of a very long grueling trip to the mines.

Over the past century, the site has been worked periodically but very few sapphires have been found. Most Kashmir sapphires are found in antique vintage jewelry.